Syracuse, N.Y. -- There was a large contingent of injured/absent players for Syracuse at Monday's practice, but Scott Shafer is not worried. Not yet anyway.

"We've had a lot of bumps and bruises and some headaches and some situations like that," Shafer said. "But not a lot of major, major injuries, which I'm pleased with. I'm just knocking on wood that we finish out this week (healthy)."

The two big names that remain unable to perform at Syracuse practice are Kyle Knapp, an offensive tackle thought to be the No. 6 offensive lineman, and Ross Krautman, who Shafer said was "the guy" and would hold onto the starting job for a fourth straight year.

Knapp, who was not on the field at all at Fort Drum last week, wore a jersey and shorts at Monday's practice and took part in light conditioning exercises. He stood and watched while his fellow linemen went through active drills.

"Kyle is feeling a lot better," Shafer said. "He's coming around, and we're looking forward to getting him and all those other kids back on the field."

Krautman was the other big name to miss practice on Monday. He was held out of the scrimmage last week at Fort Drum due to a slight groin injury. Shafer said that Krautman could have kicked during the scrimmage, but he held him out as a precaution.

Monday, though, Krautman was not on the field. Ryan Norton took his reps, and he kicked very well. He looked comfortable and missed only one of a half-dozen tries from between 40 and 50 yards.

After practice, Shafer said he is really looking for competition at the kicking positions (placekicker, punter, kickoff specialist). This was a different tone that what we heard from Shafer a few weeks ago in regards to the placekicker position, when he all but handed the spot to Krautman.

"I know you guys like the specifics and stuff, but I just like to protect the kids and the team," Shafer said. "That's why we say it's an upper-body or a lower-body (injury). I just want to protect those kids. I don't want anybody being targeted some day when they go out on the football field."

Here's a full list of players that did not participate in Monday's practice: